THE Brong Ahafo Regional Youth Coordinator, Mr. Richard Bedzra,has made a passionate appeal to the government, individuals and organizations to help revitalize the National Youth Council (NYC), to enable it to meet current national aspirations.

The Regional Youth Director, who made the appeal in an interview with THE THIRD EYE, noted that because the contribution of the youth in national development can not be dispensed with, there was therefore the need to reorganize the focus and operational structure of the council.

Mr. Bedzra, pointed out that the National Youth Council has a mandate to meet the ambitions of the youth such as employment, shelter, health facilities and skills training.

According to him, the council which has seven Youth Leadership Training Centres located in the ten regions at the moment lacks the required logistics to efficiently execute its mandate.

He mentioned lack of funds, adequate personnel and transportation as some of the problems seriously affecting the smooth running of the Council, adding that there are so many programmes for the youth on paper; which when implemented, can put them on sound footing for the future.

He urged all youth clubs to officially register with the council, to enable it to monitor the operations of such clubs and to offer them the necessary assistance in accordance with NRCD 241.

Re-introduce Forestry Risk Allowance

THE Brong Ahafo Regional Forestry Service Department (FSD), has called on the government to re-introduce the risk allowance scheme since the work is becoming more risky.

The public has also been urged to expose illegal timber operators, refrain from bush burning and seek redress on forestry issues through appropriate channels instead of resorting to anonymous letter writing and unwarranted castigation of FSD staff.

The Brong Ahafo Regional Forestry Manager, Mr. Kwaakye Ameyaw, who disclosed this to the SPACE-FM at Sunyani, pointed out that about 29km square out of the total land area of 39.557km square in the region has been destroyed over the last two years as a result of bush fires and clearing of forestland.

He therefore appealed to the government to provide the Forestry Service with adequate logistics to prevent further destruction of the forest.

On how much forest is left in the region, he said, a total land area of 2.865km square is under permanent forest cover while the rest have patches of forest spread all over.

The Regional Forestry Manager noted that the main types of forest in the region are the semi deciduous in the south and southwestern and the savannah woodland in the northern and eastern section of the region,with Goaso having much forest due to low fire outbreaks.

He mentioned foreign exchange, sustainable food production, provision of raw materials for the timber industry, employment and humid weather conditions as some of the benefits of forest in the region.

According to Mr. Kwaakye, the response to afforestation by the community, departments, timber firms as well as private plantation developers has been encouraging